Luke Darcy has paid tribute to his father, former Bulldogs player David Darcy, who passed away at the weekend
Football champion and broadcaster Luke Darcy has paid tribute to his father who passed away at the weekend aged 76. David Darcy was a much loved member of the Western Bulldogs and hospitality community.
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Former Bulldogs champion and broadcaster Luke Darcy has paid tribute to his Dad, saying he hit the jackpot with him as a parent.
David Darcy, a former Bulldogs player, passed away at the weekend aged 76.
He played 133 games and kicked 47 goals for Footscray, in two stints, from 1963-66, and from 1968-71.
He represented Victoria four times, and also spent four seasons with South Adelaide in the SANFL, including two years as captain-coach.
Luke was recruited to the Bulldogs under the father-son rule in the 1992 AFL Draft and is now a club Director.
Darcy spoke of his beloved Dad on his Triple M Hot Breakfast show on Monday morning alongside Eddie McGuire.
“It has been a really emotional couple of days as you could imagine,’’ Luke said.
“I got the call from my brother Matt in Byron Bay that Dad has passed. Ed, you’ve described me before as a man without tear ducts, well I found them on the weekend.
“They were flowing freely right across the weekend.
“We all felt, the word that came to mind, we genuinely won the jackpot having Big D, as we affectionately called him, as our Dad.”
David Darcy and wife Janet have four children, Luke, Matthew, Kim and Alysha.
They grew up in the South Australian desert town of Roxby Downs where David and Janet operated a pub. The children have also gone on to run a successful pub and hospitality group.
“He was an old fashioned publican in lots of ways and he loved hosting people,’’ said Luke, himself a father of four.
“He just had an enormously positive effect on everyone that he met. In every walk of life, it didn’t matter who you were.
“We’re going to miss him greatly, he was an incredible person to so many people.”
Darcy played a song by Mick Thomas in tribute to his Dad and finished with these words:
“We love you big D. You’re a great inspiration. On behalf of my brother Matt, my sister Kim and my sister Alysha. We couldn’t have had a better Dad.”
